A Break from Hardships
by mitchbakke
Summary: Merry and Pippin find happiness amidst the ruins of Isengard through food and other amenities, briefly discuss magic, meet a new friend, and learn a valuable lesson or two.
1. A Second Victory

A Second Victory

Amidst a sea of floodwater, surrounded by food in a newly discovered store room, Peregrin Took, Pippin, was a very happy hobbit. With the company of his best friend and cousin, Meriadoc Brandybuck or Merry, Pippin was still filled with excitement from the destruction of Isengard, and even more excited that he was still the tallest hobbit in history at four feet six inches, thanks to a draught provided by Treebeard their new ent friend. But more than excited Pippin was hungry, and missing the meals in the Shire as he often did. He had not one day had all seven meals since the start of the journey. Twice he had managed both a breakfast and second breakfast, though no elevenses, luncheon, or afternoon tea and only supper but not dinner, which is why this store room was such a wonderful find, especially because they could only expect whatever food they find to be moldy or otherwise damaged from the flood.

It began with an apple, floating waist-high amongst the floodwaters. One apple led to another and another, before finding a turkey and the basket from which the apples had most likely come in the doorway of this store room. The room was slightly elevated, keeping the water a shallow puddle around the doorway and leaving the rest of the room untouched. Pippin hadn't seen so much food since Bilbo's one hundred eleventieth birthday and there couldn't be a more welcome sight. There were heads of lettuce as big as Treebeard's thumb; large sacks of potatoes, carrots, turnips, and other various vegetables; enough barrels of ale to satisfy the thirst of a crew of dwarves after a hard days work with enough salted pork to match; and to both Merry and Pippin's delight, there were two barrels of longbottom leaf, the finest pipeweed in the South Farthing, with an aroma far sweeter than any pipeweed Pippin had seen before.

"It's perfect!" exclaimed Pippin passing a barrel to Merry. "One Barrel each." Looking at his barrel he found himself overjoyed with having had this second victory in Isengard, and upon remembering the first victory he had a sudden realization. "Wait! Do you think we should share it with Treebeard?"

"Share it!?" Merry responded, almost shocked at the possibility, thinking about it for just a moment. "No...No, dead plant and all that, don't think he'd understand." Upon seeing a look of confusion on Pippin's face he leans in close, as if sharing a secret. "Could be a distant relative."

Pippin takes note of how clever Merry is, like he always is, realizing it may be best to not tell Treebeard at all, seeing how most outside of the Shire frown upon the smoking of pipeweed.

"Oh, I get it." Pippin said with a smile and a look of understanding. "Don't be hasty." Using Treebeard's words to support the decision.

Pulling out his long wooden pipe Merry returns the smile with an affirmatory "Exactly." Before puffing on his pipe and imitating Treebeard.

Full of joy the two Hobbits laughed. A good hard laugh that was well deserved and long overdue as they always are. They laughed and laughed and begun to pack bowls of the leaf in their respective pipes. They puffed upon their pipes long in the store room, sharing jests, drinking ale, and practicing smoke tricks. Being younger than Merry, Pippin found his smoke tricks rather lacking while Merry's seemed grand. Pippin could blow rings, but Merry could blow enormous rings, and then more rings through those, such that it would become a floating target of smoke. Pippin could Elvish-inhale, meaning he could take a draw from his pipe, let the smoke out of his mouth and inhale it through his nose, but Merry could Elvish-inhale into a Dwarven-exhale which involved smoke leaving the ears. The skill Pippin was best at was a re-inhale of sorts, where he would draw from his pipe expel the smoke as a dense, white cloud and suck it back in in one fluid motion, but Merry was still arguably better.

"Do you ever wonder how Gandalf can make such great things out of his smoke?" Pippin pondered aloud.

"Well that's simple, isn't it?" Merry replied, always quick with an answer. "He's a wizard."

"Yes well I know that. But his being a wizard seems to be extremely helpful with things like his fireworks, I think his tricks must be skill." Pippin argued.

"Do you know what I've seen Gandalf make with his smoke? A boat. Not just a row boat either, it was a ship, with sails. I even think he may have had a few birds flying around the top. How would he do that if not with magic?" Merry rebuked.

"His being a wizard probably doesn't hurt," Pippin replied, "but look at how much better of tricks you can do than me and you are only eight years older than I am. Think of how many more years of experience Gandalf has over both of us. I bet another experienced smoker could rival Gandalf if not beat him."

Now having sat and smoked pipeweed for a long time, Pippin found his hunger unbearable, but with the store room as crowded as it was and the kitchen next door flooded the hobbits needed to venture outside of Isengard into the nearby forest for some wood to build a cooking fire. In a storm of unbearable starvation, Pippin began collecting items for a sort of picnic in a frenzy. He grabbed the salted pork, rushing past Merry who was still engrossed in his South Farthing pipeweed, to grab a turkey plucked and seasoned, a few fish, some potatoes, peas, carrots, and other ingredients for a stew. Having found Pippin on a mission to bring any and all foods that they had, Merry decided to find a way to transport it all. Just outside the doorway was a large variety of driftwood, which he quickly bound together into a small raft. Upon bringing the raft back inside, Merry found Pippin, or not so much Pippin as a large pile of food covering Pippin's body. Swaying like a drunkard, Pippin kept running into the walls and shelves breaking bottle after bottle of oil, which were in a very precarious position due to the flood, with the broken glass and all of the bottles' contents spilling into the water in the doorway.

"Watch yourself Pip! Remember, don't be hasty." Merry jeered, chuckling at his younger cousin. "Don't want to drop that salted pork now do we?" Finding a new equilibrium with his mountain of food, Pippin regained composure, "Wouldn't dream of it Merry, I just wanted to make sure we each had a cask of ale." Flashing a grin, Pippin dumped his load onto the raft, and they were off. Floating his creation over the waters, Merry noticed that the surface of the water looked different than normal water, as if there was something forming a layer just on top of the water. Though normally very thoughtful on this sort of thing, he decided that it may be best to save it for after dinner as he was very hungry, and it was looking to be quite the feast. They waded their way to outside the front gate where Merry found a nice spot to set up camp and began to make preparations while Pippin went out in search of the firewood.

Walking through Fangorn forest, Pippin gathered a lot of good, dry kindling lying around fangorn forest, with good starter logs which he took to Merry to begin the fire while Pippin went out again to find more wood to keep the fire going. During his second trip, Pippin discovered a familiar and sweet scent amidst the trees. Upon further inspection, he found a lone ent sitting in a large clearing with his back to a tall, white rock wall and his eyes looking up through the trees, fixed on the slowly moving and color changing clouds as they were nearing sunset. Pippin found him puffing on a giant pipe made out of what Pippin could only assume to be stone, sitting next to the largest bag of longbottom leaf that Pippin had ever seen, it had to be four times the size of himself. This ent was an old willow tree, with long, braided willows for hair and some short white whiskers, with a kind, wise face implanted into his bark. Pippin had never seen this ent before, but felt an immediate need to meet him...though he was a bit frightened to introduce himself alone. He was an ent and ents are gentle, but they are quite large as well and seeing that there is strength in numbers, Pippin decided it couldn't hurt to bring Merry the logs he had collected thus far and grab him to bring him to this mysterious new ent.

"Merry! You'll never guess what I've seen." Pippin said excitedly to his cousin who was engrossed in the foods, trying to decide the order to eat for dinner.

"What is it Pip?" Merry replied, suddenly disinterested in food.

"It's an ent, he's out in Fangorn Forest all alone," Pippin explained. "And I think he's smoking pipeweed."

"No way," Merry said in disbelief. "Show me."

So back into Fangorn Pippin goes, with Merry right on his heels. He zigs and zags along the same path he had taken before, finding his way back to the tall rock in the clearing.

"Do you smell that?" Merry asked, sniffing the air like a dog looking for food.

"Yes!" Pippin responded happily, "I told you he was out here smoking pipeweed."

Continuing along their root-filled path, they happen upon a large, white rock.

"This is it Merry." Pippin whispered, suddenly worried of the possibilities when they go around this rock. "I found him in this clearing."

Cautiously the two hobbits moved along the base of the rock, ever so quiet as to not alert a potential threat. Peeking their heads around the rock, they find the same kindly, old willow tree in the same spot with the same giant sack of pipeweed and large, black stone pipe.

"Sweet Ainur that's a lot of pipeweed!" Merry shouted surprised.

Merry's surprise only helped to shock the ent who was sitting enjoying the quiet "Who goes there?" He asked in a deep, slow, grinding, yet kind voice.

"We are just two Hobbits from the shire." Pippin replied nervously, "We helped Treebeard defeat Isengard, and when gathering some wood, I noticed you. We know all of the other ents and I wanted us to introduce ourselves," Pippin went on, "I'm Pippin and this is Merry, is that by chance longbottom leaf you're smoking?" Pippin asked.

"Why yes it is." The ent responded, "That's a keen eye you've got there."

"I've got an even keener nose." Pippin declared proudly.

The ent chuckled a deep, rusty-sounding laugh, "I suppose that is just as useful isn't it?"

"Indeed it is." Merry agreed, "What should we call you?"

In a booming, deep, and wise voice, the guardian of the forest replied, "My name is Willowsnare." Before adding in a kinder tone, "But you can call me Willie."


	2. Trouble in Paradise

**Ch. 2 Trouble in Paradise**

"It was a reflex." Pippin couldn't quite find the words. "I...I just wanted to help him." Staring at his hairy feet he thought about what happened. "Why did it have to go that way Merry? It shouldn't have happened like that."

Stoic, Merry turned toward his cousin. "I know Pip, I should have seen it coming." Quickly he turned away, stuck in his head, not able to shake the feeling that he could have prevented it. 'It was an accident, right?' Merry thought to himself, but he felt he must bear the terrible burden of guilt. 'Yes, it was, but only in the beginning… I could have said something, warned him. I usually say something, but why didn't I this time?'

Staring at his cousin in that warm orange glow Pippin felt ashamed. Pippin could hear his voice saying 'I know you're angry with me about what happened, but it wasn't my fault!' He could almost hear himself choking on tears trying to convince his cousin and apologize. 'It was an accident!' But Pippin couldn't bring himself to say the words, he could only continue to stare at his cousin, under emerging stars and high above the dangerous, hot water below.

Hours Earlier

"Come, come young Hobbits. Join me in a bowl or two of some Old Toby." Willie breathed out with the Earth, his voice extremely calming and now without its rusty quality, as if to say he had lowered his defenses. "Sit with me and watch the sunset, the colors are vivid tonight."

Taking their respective places on either side of Willowsnare, with their backs to the big white rock, each experienced smoker began to load their pieces. "Willie, what is that pipe made out of?" Merry inquired, curious as ever.

"This, my little friend, is Obsidian." Willie replied deep, slow and with emphasis on the last word.

"Obsidian!" Merry said surprised, "How did you make a pipe out of that?"

"I don't understand," Pippin interjected. "What's so special about Obsidian?"

"Obsidian is one of the hardest substances in Middle Earth!" Merry explained, giddy as a schoolgirl from seeing something he had only ever dreamed of. "Which would make it extremely hard to make a pipe out of."

"Indeed it was you wise young one, but dwarves are extremely skilled craftsmen...as are the elves I guess, but I prefer myself a good dwarven craft." Willie explained, "It all started back in the Shire actually, in Longbottom. I had been traveling across Middle Earth, taking an adventure of sorts, when I ended up there. I met this man, he was short like you, and he just kept babbling on and on about this plant he had started growing, saying that everyone needs to try it. He was so incessant about it that I gave in to his request and tried a puff on his small, small piece, which turned out to be the whole bowl." Willie reminisced fondly, "But that tiny puff was all I needed to know that I needed to try more. The first time I smelled it is unforgettable, and that only slightly beats the taste, sweeter than anything I had ever tried, except for maybe morning dew-covered fruit. Needless to say, I couldn't continue using such a small contraption if I were to keep smoking this "Halflings' Leaf" so I retraced my steps back to a small town of Dwarves that I had previously befriended to see if they could help me. Oddly enough, these dwarves lived near a volcano, which as I'm sure you know Merry, is where Obsidian is formed. The ground was rich with minerals, but their largest abundance was their amount of Obsidian."

Willie paused and drew on his Obsidian beauty. It was as smooth as glass with a long, curved chamber leading from the bowl to the mouthpiece. Gleaming in the setting sun, Willie pulled it down and away from his face. Smoke still pouring out of the mouthpiece, it set a large smooth plain, like rolling hills, above which Willie spewed a thick white cloud with minor adjustments of his mouth, and slight head movement. The cloud slowly morphed in front of these young halflings, full of wonder, as they see a cloud of smoke change into a willow tree ent walking through a hilly field, surrounded by birds, rabbits and other various life, orbiting him like satellites. The ent continued to walk, then looked up to new forming clouds which developed into incredible dragons, ships, and a spider spinning a web quickly, nimbly, and intricately, forming patterns that neither Pippin nor Merry could even begin to comprehend.

Before either of them could speak, Willie said randomly, "Alright so think about this. Is your mouth really a part of your body?" Before leaning back and taking another long draw, the wind blowing away his previous creation, only this time to release the smoke in an unorganized bundle while repeatedly opening and closing his mouth, with a new found look of extreme confusion.

Equally as puzzled, Merry replied hesitantly, "Well, yes of course, if your mouth isn't a part of your body then where is it?"

Quickly Willie snapped back to his original kind, wise, unconfused self, "I don't know, forget I asked."

Pippin still in disbelief of the smoke trick he had just witnessed, blurted out, "How did you _DO _that? That was incredible!"

"What that silly thing that the wind blew away?" Willie replied, "I would hardly say that I did that, I just guided the smoke in a way that I thought would be interesting, I ultimately do not have enough control to ensure that that would happen."

"But that was a smoke trick right?" Pippin inquired confused, "How did you make that happen if you didn't control it?"

"Well, ultimately the one thing you control is yourself." Willie explained, "I can attempt to prevent things, I can try to begin things, but the only way it can actually happen is if the universe takes it in that direction. I am just one ent, I can be the best one ent that there is and still not change anything because it cannot be done by just one. What I and everyone else can do is try to be that one that does try to change things, or prevent them and so on, and with everyone striving to be that one we find change actually possible, working together to fix whatever may be wrong. This is why I cannot take credit, for it requires more than just me, I simply try to act as a guide." Pipe still burning, he takes another draw, this time expelling his smoke in a much simpler ring pattern, making a target like Merry does, except with many, many more rings, before finishing with a beautiful elvish smoke arrow shooting through the bullseye, dissipating the target into a haze of diffusing smoke particles.

Willie returned to the original subject "Due to the plethora of obsidian, these dwarves had to find efficient ways of using it. They found it was rather difficult to use in its naturally occurring state, but that with extensive heating, it became much more manageable. So, in exchange for my services transporting their goods in mass quantities, the master smelter and nine others constructed this for me, it took them one full day, but when it was finished, they deemed it indestructible, and seeing as its lasted me this long, they're probably right." Willie added with a chuckle.

"Wow, who was the hobbit that wanted you to try the pipeweed?" Pippin asked.

"Well it was Toby, or rather Tobold as you may better know him." Willie responded.

"Wait Tobold? Tobold Hornblower?" Merry inquired longingly.

"Yes, that's the one. He became quite a good friend of mine actually, and sent me on my way with a large supply of long bottom leaf and I went around advertising for him, earning myself a lifetime supply, as long as he kept up business, and as I'm sure you know, business boomed." Willie continued in his deep, slow voice.

"So you've had that for some 350 years?" Merry asked longing just the same.

"Just about, yes." Willie replied, before abruptly changing the subject, "But seriously though, think about it. Isn't your mouth just a hole that your body goes around, leading to cavities that are really just more empty space trapped with your body around it?" Thinking deeply once again, the ent leaned back once more taking another long pull on his obsidian piece, that confused look upon his face yet again.

"I guess so, but that doesn't really matter does it?" Pippin responded to the odd question honestly. "I mean, I can eat, smoke, drink, and talk. That's good enough for me."

Surprised by this response the ent began to laugh while smoking, and he sucked the bowl's ember through. Coughing, he could feel the burn in his chest, a burn that must get out. Willie coughed and coughed, but the burn only spread. Knowing he was short on time, he reached out for help from the Hobbits. "Merry! Pippin! I haven't got long." He could feel the burn rising in his chest more and more. It was very little at first, but was growing exponentially. "I sucked in an ember, and it's smoldering inside of me right now, it grows by the second and soon it will overtake me."

"Run to Isengard Willie!" Pippin shouted in urgency. "It's flooded, the water will put out the flame!"

And off he went. No ent had ever moved so fast as this burning willow, rushing through Fangorn forest, quickly departing that beautiful clearing where the view of the sunset was so nice, and unfortunately reaching its climax of colors when he sprinted away towards Isengard. The Hobbits hurried after him following a trail of heavy, sunken footsteps leading through a path big enough for an oliphant to fit through. Worried they might lose him, they push themselves to run faster and faster.

Up ahead of them and still pulling away was Willie. The fire had spread now up his chest farther and was breaching the surface of his chin from the inside out, starting to ignite his beard. Now seeing Isengard he lengthened his stride and increased his pace beelining straight for the front gates. Having accelerated to this point he could no longer observe his surroundings as he wishes to, he has tunnel vision and he won't be taken off course. The flames had gone farther south and were now protruding out of his lower back. Closer still, he saw the finish and started feeling relief, believing that he was out of the woods. In an instant, he's on the ground, and he felt more burning, this time originating from his foot. No time to lose and two fires in his body Willie sprang up and continued his sprint towards safety.

Running, still following the tracks left by Willie, Merry and Pippin found themselves in an ent-sized crater where their cook fire had once been. Now so close to Isengard they knew they would find him soon, and reaccelerate to see an ent run up a hill and jump over the walls of Isengard. A loud splash is associated with a large burst of flame reaching over the walls. Upon arrival of the top of the wall of Isengard, they saw their wise, old, new friend burning to death in a pit of fiery waters.

Weak, Willie looked up at the two Hobbits and spoke, his voice cracked and pained. "My dear halfling friends. Thank you for your company this past hour, it has been truly wonderful, you remind me so very much of good old Toby, but now, it's my time to go. I must say, that there could be no better view for my death than that sunset there, it may only be better if viewed from where we met. I liked that place, it was paradise." With a calm expression and his eyes fixed on the sky, his death was oddly tranquil and beautiful.

'He is so accepting, that it is his time, and that it needs to happen that way.' Merry thought to himself, 'It would have been okay if I had said something' And guilt begun to hang on his shoulders.

'I've never seen Merry so sad.' Pippin thought, 'He really enjoyed learning all of that stuff from Willie, and it's my fault he sucked that ember through. He must hate me.' Suddenly remembering how hungry he was, he went down to the once cook site, gathered some salted pork and fish and went back up to the wall, to cook it on the fire that was licking its way up the walls of Isengard.

Deep hues of purple, orange, pink, and still a little blue, with extensive amount of contrast from one to the next, were the beauty of which Willie spoke on his deathbed. And now cooking atop the wall, the Hobbits could enjoy it in silence, as Willie liked to, each one trying to think of how to start the discussion with the other.

For some time they continued this silence, allowing darkness to fill the sky, leaving the only light to come from the stars, moon, and the fire below.

"It was a reflex." Pippin couldn't quite find the words. "I...I just wanted to help him." Staring at his hairy feet he thought about what happened. "Why did it have to go that way Merry? It shouldn't have happened like that."

Stoic, Merry turned toward his cousin. "I know Pip, I should have seen it coming." Quickly he turned away, stuck in his head not able to shake the feeling that he could have prevented it. 'It was an accident, right?' Merry thought to himself, but he felt he must bear the terrible burden of guilt. 'Yes, it was, but only in the beginning… I could have said something, warned him. I usually say something, but why didn't I this time?'

Staring at his cousin in that warm orange glow Pippin felt ashamed. Pippin could hear his voice saying 'I know you're angry with me about what happened, but it wasn't my fault!' He could almost hear himself choking on tears trying to convince his cousin and apologize. 'It was an accident!' But Pippin couldn't bring himself to say the words, he could only continue to stare at his cousin, under emerging stars and high above the dangerous, hot water below.

"I should have said something." Merry said, finally relieving the tension. " I noticed a film on the surface of the water… I should've known it was oil!" Merry yelled slamming his head into his palms.

"Wait, you feel like it was your fault?" Pippin asked cautiously, "I was the one who made him catch on fire and then I told him to run here. It couldn't have been your fault."

"Neither of you two should be blaming yourself." A new voice interjected. "Willowsnare knew that his death was inevitable the moment he hit the surface." The voice was long, deep and rough like bark.

"Treebeard! It's good to see you," Pippin exclaimed before adding solemnly, "I'm sorry about Willie, he was a good ent."

"A fool is what he was." Treebeard replied in a sudden flash of anger, which died quickly, "A _wise, _old fool, but he wasn't quite all there." Treebeard leaned in close, "His head was full of fungi, those same damned mushrooms that Radagast likes to eat."

"I guess that explains the mouth question." Merry deduced.

"Indeed," replied Treebeard in a reflective tone, "He's been trying to convince everyone that your mouth is just space your body goes around for years. The only one who has ever really accepted that idea is Radagast. But as odd as he was, he had some very clear moments sometimes, where he could share his introspective developments with people, teaching them good lessons for ways to live life. Even in death he passes on a lesson, one that I've been trying to instill in you two for some time. Don't be hasty." And with that treebeard was off.

"I feel we should do something for him, but I don't know what we could do." Merry said, longing to pay tribute to his fallen comrade.

"We should grab his pipe-weed and let him spread its sweet aroma once more." Pippin suggested.

Returning to the clearing was much more calm than the previous trip to Isengard, allowing for Merry and Pippin to take in the serene nature of early night, reflecting on what they had learned from Willie. Upon arrival in the clearing, the giant bag of pipeweed and equally giant obsidian pipe were still in the same spot that they had been left in.

"Do you think we should bring his pipe?" Merry asked Pippin.

"No, let's leave it here." Pippin replied, "He would've wanted it to stay in paradise." Before turning to the sack of pipeweed larger than the two Hobbits and lifting one end.

They returned to Isengard successfully with the pounds upon pounds of pipeweed that they carried and brought it up to the wall, where the fire had diminished, though not by too much.

"Let's smoke a bowl with him." Merry suggested.

Seeing it as the wonderful idea that it was, they each packed a bowl from his sack before throwing the remaining plethora across the flames, instantly filling all of Isengard with the sweetest smell it had ever experienced. Now reflecting further still on wisdom from Willie, Pippin took a long draw from his pipe and let it flow out of his mouth slowly. The cloud turned very slowly into an old, kind willow tree ent's face, which winked and smiled. Pippin smiled back to the smoke Willie as he dissipated slowly into the light breeze as the sun was just starting to come up. Looking out onto the horizon, Pippin could swear he saw four riders coming their way.


End file.
